The Emotional Reactions of School Bullies and their Victims

Abstract

A substantial body of international research supports the concern with the problem of bullying in schools. However, one important aspect of the problem which seems to have received very little, if any, attention is how bullies and their victims feel after the bullying incident. The major aim was to investigate the emotional reactions associated with the bullying incident as reported by self‐declared bullies and victims; the behavioural reactions of victims were also investigated. The study looked also into the role of pupil sex and school level differences in emotional and behavioural reactions. A total of 6282 pupils from six grades in 50 state primary and secondary schools participated in a nationwide survey employing a group‐administered questionnaire. Victims experienced mostly feelings of vengefulness, anger and self‐pity; bullies were mainly sorry or indifferent. Significantly more girl than boy victims expressed feelings of self‐pity, and more secondary than primary school victims felt angry and vengeful. The converse was true for vengefulness where significantly more boy victims expressed this emotion, and for self‐pity and helplessness which were experienced more often by primary school victims. Moreover, significantly more girl than boy bullies felt sorry; and while more primary than secondary school bullies felt sorry, the converse was true for feelings of indifference and satisfaction with more secondary school victims expressing these feelings. It is argued that our understanding of the problem of bullying is incomplete without a consideration of the emotional feelings associated with it and the implications that these have within the context of managing the problem.